The Defunct Westbury Theater Gets a Makeover

The Space at Westbury is scheduled to open Oct. 4 after a $10 million renovation.Credit
Kathy Kmonicek for The New York Times

Cyrus Hakakian has a soft spot for ’80s rock.

“Journey, the Eagles — I love those bands. I’d love to get them here,” he said in an interview recently. “Here” is the Space at Westbury, the renovated former Westbury Theater, which will open Oct. 4. Mr. Hakakian, 52, of Roslyn, bought the old movie house, situated on a nondescript stretch of Post Avenue across from a Dunkin’ Donuts, in 2004 with his three brothers; they have since spent $10 million readying it for concerts and other performances, including theater and dance.

And though Mr. Hakakian is pleased with the initial lineup — which includes the pop groups Fountains of Wayne and Soul Asylum along with the Lemonheads’ Evan Dando on opening night, the comedian Stephen Lynch on Oct. 11 and the singer Rickie Lee Jones on Oct. 16 — he hopes his ’80s-era heroes find their way to Westbury eventually.

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A mural, together with seats from the 1930s, in a side lobby.Credit
Kathy Kmonicek for The New York Times

“I’ve got a big wish list, and they’re on it,” he said.

The opening of the 25,000-square-foot theater, which can accommodate 817 people seated or 1,500 for general admission shows, is “tremendously important for the village,” Mayor Peter I. Cavallaro said in a phone interview.

“In Nassau County I can’t think of another theater of this size and type in a small downtown like we have,” he added. “The theater brings a whole new element” to Westbury.

The former Westbury Theater, a Tudor-style structure built in the 1920s, may be unrecognizable to those who knew it as the local movie house that showed art films in the 1980s and 1990s, when Corinne Straehle, 88, of Garden City, owned it with her husband, Roland. It is now outfitted with opulent touches including plush velvet removable seating and massive, sparkling chandeliers. Six sleek bars, one 30 feet long and made from wood salvaged during demolition, are scattered throughout.

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Decorative wooden movie reels on display in the lobby.Credit
Kathy Kmonicek for The New York Times

Panels of exposed original brick in both the lobby and the theater abut modern black walls. Floors in the lobby are Italian ceramic tile, and the dramatic stairway leading from there to the theater is a reproduction of the original, with original steel scrollwork railings. Three dressing rooms with private baths and a sprawling greenroom are tucked behind the stage; lighting and sound systems are “state of the art,” Mr. Bruce said, as he and the executive director, Bruce Michael, led a reporter on a tour recently. There are plans for up to 100 concerts in the first year of operation, Mr. Michael said, “plus many special events.”

The building’s Tudor exterior has been replaced by a new, contemporary facade as well as an attention-grabbing LED marquee. The architects were Hoffman Grayson of Huntington.

The theater, built for vaudeville and movies, opened in 1927 with the silent film “Hula,” starring Clara Bow and accompanied by a band from the University of Maryland. But by the time the Straehles lost the theater to bankruptcy in 2003, it had fallen into disrepair.

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Cyrus Hakakian, left, the theater’s co-owner, and Bruce Michael, its executive director.Credit
Kathy Kmonicek for The New York Times

“There was a huge hole in the roof and a foot of water on the ground. There were no lights. I had to walk through with a flashlight,” said Mr. Hakakian, referring to the initial tour of the building he took in 2004. The owner of Cyrus Knits, a women’s clothing company in Manhattan, he discovered the property through an auction ad in a newspaper.

“There was graffiti all over the place,” and homeless people were living under the 45-foot-high stage, he said. Still, he fell in love: “I’ve always said this place has great structure. All it needed was a little meat on the bones.”

Lowe Properties L.L.C., the Westbury real estate development company he formed with his brothers, Solomon, Stephen and David Hakakian, all of Long Island, to buy the building, acquired the theater for about $1.7 million. After a period of planning, including working out a parking deal with the town, gutting and renovation ensued, with most of the construction taking place in the last two years. In all, the Space has access to five parking lots downtown — all municipal lots, two leased exclusively to the theater — for a total of roughly 1,000 parking spots.

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The front entrance.Credit
Kathy Kmonicek for The New York Times

Mr. Hakakian has also renovated four upstairs apartments and two nontheater businesses, a lounge and a cafe, that will flank the lobby of the Space. Both will be open later this fall.

“People can just drop in,” Mr. Hakakian said. “We plan on this being a 365-days-a-year place for people to come.”

To that end, Mr. Michael has been fielding requests from residents considering the Space for galas, bat and bar mitzvahs and other private events; there is a kitchen for catering. He is also hearing from local arts groups interested in collaborating with the theater.

“A lot of organizations in the community and different parts of Long Island want to get involved, and we’re definitely interested in working with them,” said Mr. Michael, 66, of Manhattan and Southampton. But the theater, whose concerts are being booked through the Bowery Presents, will be selective about its programming, he said.

“If we present something that’s already been done on Long Island, we’ll want to do it in a unique way,” Mr. Michael said.

A version of this article appears in print on September 22, 2013, on Page LI9 of the New York edition with the headline: Defunct Movie House Gets a Cinderella Makeover. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe